A Third Sibling?

[Bendydoodle Cantaloupe]

Okay, so here's a new theory on the Other One that I've cooked up (footnotes optional):

 

Sherlock and Moriarty are twins.

 

Assuming that Sherlock is the same age as Benedict Cumberbatch (38)¹ and Moriarty the same age as Andrew Scott (38 as well)², Sherlock and Moriarty are twins. This explains how they both are so alike -- they're both clever, cruel, manipulative, etc. The reason why Moriarty is so obsessed with Sherlock is because he remembers his twin, but Sherlock does not. Sherlock does not remember Moriarty is his twin because the event in which they separated was so traumatic that he forcefully erased it from his mind to remain stable. Twins have a stronger bond than mere siblings, thus adding to the trauma.

 

Mycroft remembers Moriarty, though. Since Mycroft is pretty much completely emotionless, he didn't need to blot out the memory of being separated from him. Sir Edwin must also know what happened as well, since he seems to understand when Mycroft says, "You know what happened to the Other One."

 

If my theory is correct, it also proves that Moriarty is a psychopath made, not born. The psychopath gene can only be passed from mother to son³, but Mummy Holmes is obviously not a psychopath. So after Moriarty and Sherlock were separated, Moriarty must have grown up in bad circumstances (i.e. Carl Powers bullying him), which damaged him in a way that eventually made him into a psychopath. And so he murdered Carl Powers as revenge and a way to catch his twin's attention.

 

 

¹ According to Moftiss

²  Assuming that the above applies to all other characters

³ Though it hasn't been proven that there is a psychopathy gene, there is a violence gene that resides in the X part of the chromosome that determines your gender. Girls are less likely to be psychopaths because they get an X from mum and an X from dad, which dilutes the violent tendencies out (but there's still a chance that a girl can be vicious). Boys get an X from their mum and a Y from their dad, so the X from mum stays concentrated. Thus, boys are more likely to be violent.

Edited September 20, 2014 by Bendydoodle Cantaloupe

[Carol the Dabbler]

Wow -- footnotes and everything!

 

I like that.  But of course I have my own variation on it, namely that Sherlock and Jim are sorta half-twins -- Daddy Holmes had an affair, and two of his sons were born on the same day to different mothers (namely Mummy Holmes and a Ms. Moriarty).  Come to think of it, that could explain why Jim got a psychopath gene and Sherlock didn't. ^*

 

 

^*Though even with the same mother, I think there'd be only a 50% chance of any particular kid getting it the gene, since the mother has two X chromosomes.

 

[Arcadia]

There's a gene for psychopathy?

[Caya]

Not quite.

[sfmpco]

Yeah... I still don't quite align with the twin thing, but it's an interesting theory.  There's nothing to say, btw, that "the other one" couldn't be female.  Somewhere a sister.  

 

I don't think Andrew Scott was cast as Moriarty because he and BC are the same age.  I think AS gave a bone-chilling audition.  So the age sameness is just coincidence.  (and don't give me any "the universe is rarely so lazy" stuff).  There has been a lot of talk about bringing Tom Hiddleston in, but he's actually younger than BC by five years, but it's never been confirmed that he's in it, and there won't be any confirmations for a looooooong time.  I think the Moriarty thing is closed.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I think the idea of a twin first arose (a couple of years ago) because the canon Moriarty has at least one brother, so we thought perhaps if Moftiss wanted to bring Andrew Scott back, maybe he could play Jim's brother (presumably an identical twin, to explain the close physical resemblance).  About the same time, there was conjecture (based on an uncompleted sentence in a DVD commentary) that Daddy Holmes had had an affair, and perhaps Jim was the result.

 

Then S3 ended with Moriarty or his lookalike on television, so the Andrew Scott discussion started up again.  But we were still talking about Jim's twin, not Sherlock's, at least until recently.  I guess the Jim-and-Sherlock-are-twins idea arose because of the two actors being virtually the same age.  I personally still favor the "twins from different mothers" idea.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Not quite.

 

Thanks for that link, Martina.  If I understand the article correctly, there seems to be a gene that can predispose a person to violence, and that gene is indeed located on the X chromosome, meaning that women with the gene (who have a "spare" X chromosome) are less likely to exhibit the trait than men (who have only the one).  But that's a "violence" gene, not a "psychopathic" gene.

 

Even though statistical evidence strongly suggests that psychopathic behavior is also genetic in some cases, no gene has yet been identified.  (See about halfway down that page, starting a couple of paragraphs before the picture of the whatever-it-is.)

[Bendydoodle Cantaloupe]

Oh. I didn't know that that was a gene for violence, not psychopathy. I'm not one for reading long nonfiction stuff, so I just watched a short TEDTalk by Jimmy Fallon on psychopaths^*.

 

 

^*Fun fact: In this TEDTalk, Jimmy Fallon reveals that he is, albeit distantly, related to Lizzi Borden (a psychopath) and Ezra Cornell (founder of Cornell University).

[jesskayding]

I can't keep up with your brains. "I'm too ignorant" - Liza from 'My Fair Lady'

[Carol the Dabbler]

Oh. I didn't know that that was a gene for violence, not psychopathy. I'm not one for reading long nonfiction stuff, so I just watched a short TEDTalk by Jimmy Fallon on psychopaths^*.

 

Well, there's apparently some overlap in the definitions.  The article says that they thought for a while that women didn't inherit psychopathy (if that's the word), but then it turned out that they do seem to inherit the anti-social behavior, just not the violence.  So maybe it's two separate genes?  It'll be a long time before they actually understand this sort of thing.

[sfmpco]

That thumping sound you hear is me beating my head against the wall.  

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

There is still debate about whether or not Lizzy Borden was actually guilty. She never exhibited any such violent behavior before or after the murder of her parents. She continued to live in same town if not the same house even though she was pretty much shunned by her neighbors. She even requested that she be buried in the family plot near her parents. I don't find that to be the behavior of someone who hated their parents so much as to hack them to death. But that is just my opinion.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Right, that's what I've heard too.  A number of other people were known to have been in the house that morning.  Apparently the suspicion fell most heavily on Lizzie because her story kept changing.  In my opinion, she may have been guilty, or she may have been hiding some other secret (possibly even the identity of the actual murderer), or she may have simply been too traumatized to keep things straight.

 

If she actually did hack up her parents, then I'd agree that she was quite possibly a psychopath.  But if they're currently pinning that label on a woman long dead, simply because she was accused of a lurid murder, that's dirty pool.

 

That thumping sound you hear is me beating my head against the wall.  

 

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

And she did stand trial but was found not guilty or was otherwise acquitted of the murders. 

[jesskayding]

Why we talkn' 'bout dis woman killin' her chiren?

[Carol the Dabbler]

Not her children, her parents -- well, her father and stepmother.  And -- umm -- why are we discussing it?  Oh, right -- is there a psychopath gene?  (Answer: maybe.)  So Lizzie Borden was a little tangent from that.

 

We can go back to discussing nice normal psychopaths now!

 

[jesskayding]

Oh.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

CAM being a prime example.

[sfmpco]

Really, none of the characters are true sociopaths or psychopaths except for Moriarty and possibly CAM.  I wish they didn't use those words so generously and inappropriately in the series.  

 

I do think, however, that Sherlock has a some psychotic moments, not the least of which happened during his grand deduction at the wedding.  Even he recognized he was "off-piste a bit."

[Bendydoodle Cantaloupe]

Really, none of the characters are true sociopaths or psychopaths except for Moriarty and possibly CAM.  I wish they didn't use those words so generously and inappropriately in the series. 

 

I know! Lots of people who are real psychopaths don't go around hiring cabbie-hitmen, trying to blow up best friends, or forcing someone to jump off a building. Lots of actual psychopaths don't even commit that many crimes. We just only hear about the ones that do do those things.

 

And English is weird as heck.

[SherlockedCAMPer]

 

And English is weird as heck.

 

 

English is one of the most difficult western character based languages.

 

 

As for another sibling, if/when Gatiss & Moffatt reveal another sibling, I think we will be completely surprised & will have our emotions toyed with as they have done with their season ending cliff hangers.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Well, I sure hope so!  (Though I'd just as rather not have my credulity strained again quite as severely as it was with "Last Vow.")

 

As for the inaccurate use of the words "psychopath" and "sociopath," just remember that they've also misused "idiot" since Episode One.  But none of that word misuse worries me terribly, because that's what people do  and besides, none of the people using those terms are psychiatrists or psychologists.  (Note that neither John's therapist nor Henry's therapist use any of those terms.)

 

[Arcadia]

I think what bothers me is that in general (not medical) usage, sociopath, psychopath and idiot are intended to be insults. So I cringe a bit when Sherlock refers to himself that way (self-esteem issues?) or claims John "likes it."

I recognize that in the correct context, those terms (esp. "idiot") can be used fondly/with humor, which is why John gets away with it at the end of SiP. But I'd really cringe if he meant the word in it's "proper" sense.

[jesskayding]

I think what bothers me is that in general (not medical) usage, sociopath, psychopath and idiot are intended to be insults. So I cringe a bit when Sherlock refers to himself that way (self-esteem issues?) or claims John "likes it."

 

I recognize that in the correct context, those terms (esp. "idiot") can be used fondly/with humor, which is why John gets away with it at the end of SiP. But I'd really cringe if he meant the word in it's "proper" sense.

 

 

 

I think Sherlock embraces & rather enjoys being a Sociopath. He jumps on the chair in pure delight when John ask him if people often assume he's the murderer. He loves having that title.

[Bendydoodle Cantaloupe]

Or maybe he's pretending he's okay with it when really he's not.